1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a shield for protecting the hand or foot of a user from ultraviolet light emitted from an ultraviolet light curing system, such as ultraviolet nail lamps or light-emitting diode (LED) ultraviolet gel nail lamps during the curing of nail polish, nail gel, shellac nail polish or any coating composition applied to the fingernails or toenails during manicures or pedicures requiring UV curing.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a gel-type polish, that is a nail coating composition that requires UV light to cure, is applied during manicure or pedicure, it is necessary for the polish to be cured under an ultraviolet gel curing system, such as an ultraviolet gel nail lamp or a LED ultraviolet gel nail lamp for possibly 30 seconds to 3 minutes per application of the coating composition. Based upon the time and the number of applications of coating composition applied during a UV gel manicure and pedicure, users of gel-type polish can be subjected to up to 12 minutes of unprotected exposure to ultraviolet light. This exposure of the user could have many deleterious effects on the user, such as premature aging of the skin and/or the production of sun or liver spots. Additionally, ultraviolet light has been implicated as a carcinogen. Therefore, it is imperative that the hands and feet of the user, with the exception of the fingernails or toenails, be protected from unnecessary exposure to ultraviolet light during the curing of the coating composition applied to the fingernails or toenails during manicures and pedicures.
It should be appreciated the recitation of the term “ultraviolet gel curing system,” and variations thereof, as used throughout the present disclosure, refers to any system, such as an ultraviolet gel nail lamp or a LED ultraviolet gel nail lamp for curing any coating composition, such as, but not limited to nail polish, shellac or nail gel polish applied to the fingernails or toenails during a manicure or pedicure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,513 to Sima illustrates a fingerless manicure glove including a main portion for accommodating the palm of the hand, as well as a plurality of finger portions. Each of the distal portions of the finger portions defines an opening allowing the fingernail of the finger to protrude from the opening. It is noted the purpose of this fingerless glove is to insulate the wearer's hand from inclement weather while the nails are being exposed to the cold to rapidly cure the nail polish applied to the client's nails. Therefore, the Sima reference is directed to a curing process different from using ultraviolet light rays to cure a product applied to the nails during a manicure or pedicure. The Sima glove is designed to keep the wearer's hands warm while the nail polish is being cured by its exposure to cold temperatures. Gel nail polish and/or the variations listed previously of this product, can only be cured using the ultraviolet light, thus Sima's described method of curing is completely opposite of the one the shield is intended to protect the hand for. Additionally, the finger portions of the Sima glove do not “grip” the finger in any specific way, making it difficult for the glove's finger portions to stay in one place, something that is important when curing the nails under the UV light because the hand is being moved into and out of the gel curing system 1 to 5 times, thus the protection on the hand needs to stay in one place in order to protect as much of the skin of the user as possible and to insure the glove or shield does not interfere with the product applied before it is completely cured. The shield's material stays under the cuticle due to the tensile strength of said material, thus not interfering with the polish and/or exposing too much of the skin on the finger. Additionally, the Sima glove is designed to cover the palm and the top of the hand of the user. Furthermore, the Sima glove is fabricated from a piece of stretchable fabric designed to be washed after each use and brought back to the salon for use on the customer's next visit, something which is often difficult for the customer to remember to do while the shield, being disposable and inexpensive to manufacture, will be available at the nail salon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,584 to Da Grossa describes a fingernail glove covering the palm, the top of the hand and the fingers of the user with the exception of the fingernails of the user. The primary purpose of this prior art is to keep the wearer's hands warm while simultaneously exposing the nails of the wearer. This prior art exposes the nails for the purpose of a women to show off her nails. The fingernail glove is designed to be made of a stretchable fabric and is not intended to protect a woman's hand from ultraviolet light rays.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,550 to Flores describes a set of three driving gloves. Each of the gloves is available in varying lengths to cover as much of the user's arm, wrist and a portion of the hand, as necessary depending on the clothing of the user. The glove features finger portions cut away, thus exposing a large amount of the fingers of the user, which is done to allow greater flexibility of the fingers when driving. These gloves are produced from a lightweight material that protects primarily the user's skin on the wrist, a large portion of the exposed arm and a smaller portion of the hand of the user from the ultraviolet light emitted from the sun. This prior art cannot be used to protect the feet of the user, nor would it be practical to use during the curing of a gel manicure due to the large amount of skin allowed to be exposed on the fingers in order to insure the flexibility of the user's fingers during driving.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,331 to Stewart depicts a disposable hand protector intended to create a barrier between an item, such as food or medical devices and the hand of an individual to prevent the contamination of the food or the medical devices. In this particular prior art example, the entire hand of the individual, including the tips of the individual's fingers and fingernails are covered. Furthermore, the Steward hand protector does not block the hands of the user from ultraviolet light.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,010 to Kron describes a disposable half-glove/mitt intended to be used to clean surfaces of a patient, to apply medications, ointments, etc., to a patient or to protect the user's hand from whatever is being applied or wiped off of a patient. The mitt/glove covers the user's fingers and fingernails and a portion of the top and the bottom of the hand of the user. This mitt/glove is made of disposable material that does not provide any protection from ultraviolet light, nor does it expose the fingernails, nor cover the entire top of the hand, nor can it be used to protect the skin on the foot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,734 to Pugliatti illustrates a pedicure sock intended to keep a user's foot warm during a conventional pedicure. A number of separate stalls are provided at the end of the sock allowing the wearer's toes to protrude from the end of said sock, therefore enabling a conventional pedicure to be performed, using nail polish that does not need to be cured under a UV gel system, to be placed on the toenails. However, the Pugliatti sock does not protect the wearer's feet and ankles from ultraviolet rays, it is made of a material intended to be washed and used again and it does not cover the entire toe of the user up to the cuticle.
Therefore, none of the above noted U.S. patents describe a single shield adapted for use to protect either a hand or a foot of a user during a manicure or a pedicure that must be cured under a UV gel system. That is, none of the above noted United States patents describe a shield having slits provided to expose the fingernails and/or the toenails of the user, while coveting the hand and a portion of the wrist and the foot and a portion of the ankle of the user while the application(s) of a gel polish or a facsimile thereof, is cured under a UV gel system.